Survey Instruments

• Introduction
• Child CAPI Supplement (CS)
• Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS)
• Mother Supplement (MS)

Introduction

Each NLSY79 Child interview may have consisted of the administration of multiple field instruments.

The Child Supplement (CS), administered every survey round from 1986 to 2014, was designed for children age 4 and older (capped at age 14 beginning in 1994), eligible for one or more of the child assessments. The Child Supplement was designed primarily for items that involve interviewer contact with the child. The Child Supplement contained the interviewer-administered assessments and questions for school-agers on classroom activities, teacher practices, homework, work for pay, asthma, religion, and the interviewer home observations.

The Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS), administered every survey round from 1988 to 2014, contained questions about family interactions, attitudes, friends, and sensitive behaviors for children 10 years of age and older (capped at age 14 beginning in 1994).

The Mother Supplement (MS)a, dministered from 1986 to 2016 to the mother for each child (capped at age 14 beginning in 1994), contained mother-report assessments and questions about health, school, and family background.

Table 1 gives a detailed list of the contents of the child questionnaires used in the current survey round.

Table 1. NLSY79 Child Surveys: Instrumentation and Survey Content

Child Supplement (CS)*	Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS)*	Mother Supplement (MS)
Preliminaries:  Age & DOB check/verification Consent to assess/interview child (4 yrs+) Enrollment & current grade (4-14 yrs) Child Height/Weight Child Assessments (4 yrs+): What I am Like (SPPC): 12-14  Memory for Digit Span: 7-11  PIAT Math: 5-14  PIAT Reading Recognition: 5-14  PIAT Reading Comprehension: 5-14  PPVT: 4-5, 10-11 Interviewer Evaluation of Testing Conditions Child Schooling (8-14 yrs): Homework  Classroom activities  Teacher behavior/practices  Parent assistance with homework/school plans Asthma (10-14 yrs) Work for Pay (10-14 yrs) Religion (10-14 yrs) Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS) (10-14 years) Observations of Home Environment Interviewer Remarks	After-School & Extracurricular Activities  Alcohol, Cigarette, & Drug Use  Anti-Social Behaviors  Attitudes on Gender Roles  Child "Moods"  Child Task Expectations  Childbearing Expectations  Computer Access/Training/Use  Dating  Educational Expectations  Friendship Network  Interviewer Remarks  Marriage Expectations  Neighborhood Safety  Parental Consensus  Parent-Child Decision-Making  Parent-Child Interaction  Parent-Child Joint Activities  Risk-taking Behavior  Rules for Child Behavior  School Satisfaction  Sex Education  Summer Activities  Time Away from Parents  TV Viewing  Volunteerism (14 years old)  Weapons at School	Child Background:  Name, age verification  School/preschool attendance  Head Start  Parent involvement  Child religion Child Health:  Height/weight  Limiting conditions  Accidents/injuries/illnesses/hospitalization Menarche  Handedness  Insurance Mother-Report Assessments:  The HOME  How My Child Usually Acts (3-6 yrs)  Motor & Social Development (0-3) School & Family (5-14 yrs):  Scholastic progress & difficulties  Ratings of school effectiveness  Expectations for child education  Child social relationships Behavior Problems Index (4-14 yrs) Child Mental Health (0-14; 4-14 yrs)
*NOTE: In every survey round from 1986 to 2014, a Child Supplement and a Mother Supplement were administered for each eligible child. In 2016, only the Mother Supplement was administered. In 2018, a limited number of child health and schooling questions were asked, but no Mother Supplement assessments were administered. Starting in 2006, the Mother Supplement was fully integrated into the main Youth questionnaire and the CSAS, previously a separate questionnaire, became a section of the Child Supplement. CS and MS sections not otherwise labeled are intended for all children ages 0-14. Sensitive items are self-administered.

Most of the primary variables found in the child data set were derived directly from one or more survey instruments, e.g., questionnaires or other interview forms. Constructed variables on the Child file that are not based directly on the Child assessments (e.g., pre- and postnatal care, child care, or maternal employment) are derived from information reported by the mothers during their own main NLSY79 Youth interviews. 

Users are urged to examine the NLSY79 Child data collection instruments and relevant main NLSY79 Youth questionnaires in conjunction with the other documentation that accompanies the data files. Online documentation for these questionnaires is available under "Questionnaires" in the Other Documentation section and in the Survey Instruments section. Details on the content of each questionnaire and the mode of administration used in prior survey rounds, as well as the current survey, are discussed below.

Prior Rounds. The Child data collection instruments have undergone changes, some of which are documented in this and other users guides from prior rounds as well as in the NLSY Child Handbook:1986-1990, part 1 and part 2 (Baker et al., 1993, PDF). From 1986-1992, separate paper instruments were used to collect interview and assessment information for each NLSY79 Child. A Child Supplement (CS) was the interviewer-administered assessment questionnaire. A Mother Supplement (MS) was given to mothers so they could report assessment information about each child. In 1988 a third questionnaire, the Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS) was introduced to collect self-reports from each child age 10 years or older (capped at age 14 beginning in 1994).

CHILD SUPPLEMENT 1994. In 1994 the Child Supplement was converted to Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI), while the MS and CSAS remained in paper format.

CHILD SUPPLEMENT 2000. In 2000 all items in the Mother Supplement for children under age four were moved to the Child CAPI Supplement. Some sections on school and family that had previously been in the Mother Supplement were transferred to the Child Supplement for CAPI administration. The Child Self-Administered Supplement used in 2000 was still a confidential paper self-report aimed at children ages 10-14.

CHILD SUPPLEMENT 2002. In the 2002 survey round, each child interview involved the administration of one Child Supplement (CS), a Mother Supplement (MS) and, for children age 10-14, a Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS). In the 2002 survey, the Child Supplement was essentially reserved for items that involved interviewer contact with the child. The 2002 Child Supplement focused on the interviewer-administered assessments and questions for school-agers on classroom activities, teacher practices, homework, work for pay, and religion. Starting in 2002, all items that had been traditionally addressed to the mother, such as schooling, health, and family background were moved into the Mother Supplement, which became a CAPI instrument for the first time. In 2002, the Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS) was converted from paper to CAPI and given to children who were age 10-14 by December 31 of that survey year. The CSAS was made available both on laptop and on hand-held PDA (Personal Data Assistant) in 2002.

CHILD SUPPLEMENT 2004. In the 2004 survey round, each child interview involved the administration of one Child Supplement, one Mother Supplement and, for children age 10-14, a Child Self-Administered Supplement. In the 2004 survey, the Child Supplement was essentially reserved for items that involved interviewer contact with the child. The 2004 Child Supplement focused on the interviewer-administered assessments and questions for school-agers on classroom activities, teacher practices, homework, work for pay, and religion. In 2004 all items that had been traditionally addressed to the mother, such as schooling, health, and family background, were moved into the Mother Supplement, which became a CAPI instrument for the first time. In 2004 the Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS) was converted from paper to CAPI and given to children who were age 10-14 by December 31, 2004. The CSAS was made available both on laptop and on hand-held PDA (Personal Data Assistant).

CHILD SUPPLEMENT & MOTHER SUPPLEMENT 2006. In the 2006 survey round, the Mother Supplement was folded into the mother's main Youth questionnaire and the Child Self-Administered Supplement became a section of the Child Supplement. So, while the MS and CSAS content were preserved, in 2006 they were no longer separate instruments.

MOTHER SUPPLEMENT 2016. In the 2016 survey round, the Child Supplement and Child Self-Administered Supplement were not administered. Mothers completed the Mother Supplement for children ages 14 and below. Mothers answered only the child background questions for 14 year olds; age-relevant assessments, health, and family questions were answered for children ages 13 and younger. More detail is provided in the Mother Supplement (MS) section below.

Child Supplement (CS)

For survey rounds from 1986 to 2014, the Child Supplement (CS) was used by the interviewer to:

1. verify age and grade of the child
2. weigh and measure the child
3. give children the interviewer-administered cognitive and socio-emotional assessments
4. obtain information about the child's current school experience
5. evaluate the testing conditions
6. record observations of the child's home environment

Tables 2a and 2b display the contents of the CS for the 2014 survey round, how the section was administered, and the age at which a child was eligible for each section.

Table 2a. Child Supplement - Administration Pattern by Age of Child (Preliminaries Age Check through PPVT) as of 2014

Section Name:	Preliminaries Age Check	Consent, Grade	Child Hgt & Wgt	What I Am Like (SPPC)	Digit Span	PIATs	PPVT
Age Range	4-14 yrs	4-14 yrs	4-14 yrs	12-14 yrs	7-11 yrs	5-14 yrs	4-5, 10-11 yrs1
Age 4	FI asks mom	FI asks mom	FI measures or asks mom	-	-	-	FI asks child
5	FI asks mom	FI asks mom	FI measures or asks mom	-	-	FI asks child	FI asks child
6	FI asks mom	FI asks mom	FI measures or asks mom	-	-	FI asks child	FI asks child1
7	FI asks mom	FI asks mom	FI measures or asks mom	-	FI asks child	FI asks child	FI asks child1
8	FI asks mom	FI asks mom	FI measures or asks mom	-	FI asks child	FI asks child	FI asks child1
9	FI asks mom	FI asks mom	FI measures or asks mom	-	FI asks child	FI asks child	FI asks child1
10	FI asks mom	FI asks mom	FI measures or asks mom	-	FI asks child	FI asks child	FI asks child
11	FI asks mom	FI asks mom	FI measures or asks mom	-	FI asks child	FI asks child	FI asks child
12	FI asks mom	FI asks mom	FI measures or asks mom	FI asks child	-	FI asks child	-
13	FI asks mom	FI asks mom	FI measures or asks mom	FI asks child	-	FI asks child	-
14	FI asks mom	FI asks mom	FI measures or asks mom	FI asks child	-	FI asks child	-
1 Some children 6 to 9 years of age with no previous score were administered the PPVT in some survey rounds.

Table 2b. Child Supplement - Administration Pattern by Age of Child (Evaluation of Testing Conditions through Interviewer Remarks) as of 2014

Section Name:	Evaluation of Testing Conditions	Child Schooling	Asthma, Work for Pay & Religion	CSAS (self-report)	HOME Observations	Interviewer Remarks
Age Range	4-14 yrs	8-14 yrs	10-14 yrs	10-14 yrs2	4-14 yrs	4-14 yrs
Age 4	FI only	-	-	-	FI only	FI only
5	FI only	-	-	-	FI only	FI only
6	FI only	-	-	-	FI only	FI only
7	FI only	-	-	-	FI only	FI only
8	FI only	FI asks child	-	-	FI only	FI only
9	FI only	FI asks child	-	Child self reports2	FI only	FI only
10	FI only	FI asks child	FI asks child	Child self reports	FI only	FI only
11	FI only	FI asks child	FI asks child	Child self reports	FI only	FI only
12	FI only	FI asks child	FI asks child	Child self reports	FI only	FI only
13	FI only	FI asks child	FI asks child	Child self reports	FI only	FI only
14	FI only	FI asks child	FI asks child	Child self reports	FI only	FI only
2 Some children 9 years of age at the date of interview (10 years as of Dec 31) completed an abbreviated CSAS.

The Child Supplement began with questions addressed to the mother on the child's current grade, enrollment status, and height and weight. The interviewer administered the following sections to the mother before starting any child assessments:

Preliminaries -- short introduction in which the interviewer verified the name and age of the child to be interviewed and the mode in which the questionnaire was to be administered (in-person or telephone).

Consent/grade --  the interviewer verified parental permission to interview the child and asked about the child's current grade in school. Grade was used to determine a good estimated entry point into the PIAT assessments.

Child Height and Weight -- height and weight were collected either by mother report or interviewer measurement.

The interviewer then administered the following assessments directly to children age 4 and older:

Interviewer-Administered Child Assessments -- What I am Like (SPPC) for children age 12-14; Memory for Digit Span for children 7-11; PIAT Math and Reading subtests for children 5 and older; and the PPVT-R administered to children 4-5, and 10-11.

All interviewer-administered assessments were completed using CAPI software, a process that was introduced into the surveys in 1994. The software presented the interviewer with on-screen facsimiles of the assessment items, stored each response that was entered, and then automatically scored the test. Original materials prepared by the test designers for PIAT Math and Reading Recognition were presented to the child. The PIAT Reading Comprehension and the PPVT were presented to the child on-screen. Each assessment was followed by a series of check items in which the testing conditions were evaluated by the interviewer.

After the interviewer-administered assessments were completed, the following sections on school, work, asthma and religion were administered to older children:

Child Schooling (age 8-14) -- questions addressed to school age children about reading, homework, classroom activities, and their perception of parental involvement in school.

Work for Pay (age 10-14) -- a brief series on type of work for pay, frequency, and earnings.

Asthma (age 10-14) -- questions on any asthma symptoms in the last month; type of symptoms and their effect on schoolwork and physical activity.

The Child Supplement concluded with interviewer reports on the child's testing environment and a checklist of conditions observed in the home. 

Interviewer Evaluation of Testing -- interviewer reports used to gauge the attitude of the child toward testing, the child's general physical condition, and whether there were any events that interfered with assessment or caused premature termination of the session.

Interviewer Observations of the Home Environment -- interviewer perceptions of the child-mother interaction and the nature of the child's physical surroundings. Most of the items that comprise the HOME scales are in the mother-report assessment section of the Mother Supplement. However, selected interviewer observations of the home environment (found in the CS) were used in scoring the HOME assessment.

The Child CAPI Supplement flowchart illustrates the sequence in which a case proceeds through the current questionnaire according to the age of the child.

Changes to the Child Supplement (CS). In 2002 virtually all the child background questions that appeared in previous survey rounds in the beginning of the CS (directed to the mother) were moved to the Mother Supplement. This design was also used in 2004 and subsequent survey rounds.

Changes to the Assessments: Starting in 2002, two of the original printed assessment easels were no longer displayed to the child in the administration of the PPVT or PIAT Reading Comprehension. The child viewed the PPVT images on the laptop while the interviewer followed along using a printed word list. PIAT Reading Comprehension subtest was also displayed on-screen to the child while the interviewer still used the assessment materials in the standard manner. All assessments, including the PPVT, were administered only in English starting in 2002. Interviewers were instructed to make comments in the assessments or interviewer remarks section if other languages were used in the interview to facilitate understanding.

Child Schooling raised to age 8: Starting in 2002, questions about the child's most recent classroom experiences and homework were directed to children 8 and older. Before that survey round this series was administered for children age 5 and older.

Religion & Work for pay moved from CSAS: Questions about religious affiliation and jobs that were self-reported in the Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS) for children 10-14 prior to 2002 were administered by the interviewer in the Child Supplement beginning in 2002.

The Child Supplement was not administered in 2016. The Child Supplement questionnaires for previous rounds are available under Questionnaires in the Other Documentation section.

Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS)

The Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS), administered from 1988 to 2014, has been used to collect information from children ages 10 years and older on a wide range of topics including child-parent interactions, family decision-making, attitudes toward school, extra-curricular activities, work for pay, peer relationships, dating activities, attendance at religious services, antisocial behavior, and substance use. 

In booklet form until 2002, this self-report series was administered on laptop (and on PDA in 2002 and 2004) by children who are 10 to 14 years old by the end of the survey year. The CSAS collected information on:

1. child-parent interactions
2. family decision-making
3. attitudes toward school
4. after school and extra-curricular activities
5. jobs and employment
6. peer relationships and dating activities
7. religious identification and attendance at religious services
8. birth and marriage expectations
9. sex education
10. participation in various delinquent activities
11. use of cigarettes, alcohol, and other illegal substances
12. risk taking and depression
13. computer use

Through 2000 children age 13 and older were asked about age at first intercourse. Once children reach the Young Adult survey they are asked questions about sexual activity. See Table 1 at the beginning of this section for details on the content of the CSAS as of the 2014 survey round.

Changes in the CSAS. The content of this supplement has gradually expanded since 1988, the first survey year that it was used. In 1992, the following items and topics were added to the Child Self-Administered Supplement: 

1. dates of birth and usual residence of any children born to the NLSY79 children age 13 or older
2. expanded categories on the decision-making questions
3. parent interaction
4. parent-child closeness
5. depression
6. peer pressure
7. school rating
8. neighborhood safety

In 1994, with the introduction of the Young Adult survey, the CSAS was limited to children ages 10-14. In that same year, a sequence of questions was added regarding the nature of parent interactions on issues relating to the child. A seven-item series was added that probes into the child's ideas about appropriate roles for boys and girls in the family, with peers, and in school. Also included for the first time in 1994 was a sequence on risk-taking. The substance use series was substantially augmented by the addition of in-depth questions about current use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and a variety of other drugs. A series of questions about computer use and programming knowledge was also introduced in 1994. The only significant change since 1996 was an expansion, in 1998, of the sequence of questions relating to substance use.

A CSAS confidential report form was used from 1988 to 2000 to collect information on early sexual activity for children 13 and older. In 2000 the questions on the CSAS confidential card about live births were eliminated since this information is now collected as the children become young adults. Starting in 2002, questions about early sexual activity are no longer administered to children under age 15. The following questions, which were asked in the 1988-2000 surveys of children ages 13 and 14, were deleted from subsequent Child survey rounds:

CSASCC2A       Have you ever had sexual intercourse? ("had sex", "made it", etc.)
CSASCC2A       What grade were you in when you first had sexual intercourse? 
CSASCC2B       How old were you when you first had sexual intercourse? 
NOTE: These questions are also asked of young adult children once they become eligible for the Young Adult interview.

CSAS on PDA.  In 2002 and 2004 the Child Self-Administered Supplement was available on a hand-held personal data assistant (PDA) and on laptop. In those survey rounds children were encouraged to complete the CSAS on PDA while the interviewer continued other parts of the interview either with the mother or siblings on the laptop. If only one child age 10-14 was in the household or the laptop was not being used, that child could complete the CSAS on laptop as soon as the assessments were completed. A question was added in 2002 and repeated in 2004 on the extent of the child's previous experience using any type of hand-held digital device.

User Note: In the survey years in which the CSAS was a separate CAPI questionnaire, it was necessary to determine ahead of time which children would take the CSAS. Thus, all children who might turn 10 during the field period were identified as eligible for the CSAS. This means that some children who were age 9 at the time of the interview, but who would turn 10 by the end of the year, were eligible to start the CSAS and complete a short mini series once their age at the date of interview was established.

The CSAS was not administered in 2016. The CSAS section for prior rounds is included in the Child Supplement questionnaire, available under Questionnaires in the Other Documentation section.

Mother Supplement (MS)

Table 3 describes the current content of the Mother Supplement and the age at which each child is eligible for a particular section.

Table 3. Mother Supplement - Administration Pattern by Age of Child in 2016

Section Name	Child Background	Health	Motor & Social Development	How My Child Acts (Temperament)	The HOME	School & Family	Behavior Problems	Child Mental Health
Age Range	0-14 yrs	0-13  yrs	0-3 yrs	3-6 yrs	0-13 yrs	5-13 yrs	4-13 yrs	0-14 yrs
Age <1	*	*	*		*			*
1	*	*	*		*			*
2	*	*	*		*			*
3	*	*	*	*	*			*
4	*	*		*	*		*	*
5	*	*		*	*	*	*	*
6	*	*		*	*	*	*	*
7	*	*			*	*	*	*
8	*	*			*	*	*	*
9	*	*			*	*	*	*
10	*	*			*	*	*	*
11	*	*			*	*	*	*
12	*	*			*	*	*	*
13	*	*			*	*	*	*
14	*	*			*	*	*	*
Note that in survey rounds prior to 2016, the upper age limit for the Mother Supplement was 14.

The Mother Supplement began with an introduction to obtain information about each child's schooling, religious attendance, and health. The interviewer asked about the child's home environment and temperament and then turned the laptop over to the mother so she could complete a self-administered section on her child's school progress, behavior problems, and mental health. Designed to be completed by the mother or guardian for each child, the Mother Supplement contained the following sections:

Child Background - Questions on school attendance, Head Start, teacher behavior and classroom activities, parental involvement in school, child's religious attendance, and the importance of religion. In prior survey rounds, mothers also completed a series on the child’s progress in school and ratings of school quality.

Child Health - Mother reports on the child's general health status, accidents and injuries, illnesses, menarche (age at first menses) update, handedness, insurance coverage, mental health.

Mother report assessments - The HOME for children ages 0 to 13; Behavior Problems Index for children 4-13; Temperament or "How My Child Acts" for children ages 2 to 6; and Motor & Social Development for children under age 4.

CASI section - Mother reports on educational expectations; child's friendships; child's closeness to mother and siblings; child's future prospects; child's mental health.

The Mother Supplement flowchart (PDF) depicts the general content and pathways of the Mother Supplement.

Changes to the Mother Supplement. From 1986-2002 the Mother Supplement (MS) was a paper booklet, self-administered by the mother. In 2000, assessments for children under age 4 years were moved out of the MS into the CS for that survey round only. In 2004, the paper-and-pencil Mother Supplement was converted to a CAPI instrument. Questions about child school attendance and Head Start that were previously addressed to the mother at the beginning of the Child Supplement (CS) were moved into the Child Background section of the Mother Supplement. The MS Child Health section then contained the series about limiting conditions, accidents, and injuries that used to be in the Child Supplement. School and family background questions, which were once in the paper Mother Supplement and then in the Child CAPI Supplement, were moved into the CAPI Mother Supplement. 

Three mother-report assessments, that were previously self-report, were (starting in 2004) administered to the mother by the interviewer:

1. The HOME
2. How My Child Usually Acts (Temperament)
3. Motor and Social Development

While most of the Mother Supplement questions were asked by the interviewer, in early CAPI rounds (prior to the integration of the Mother Supplement into the mother's main Youth interview in 2006), mothers used CASI to self-administer a series of sensitive questions about each child's school progress, school rating, class standing, and educational expectations. Note that only the question about educational expectations was asked in 2016. Mothers also reported on each child's problem behaviors by completing the Behavior Problems Index (BPI) in the CASI section. Some confidential health questions, previously in the CS, were later administered in a brief MS section called Mental Health when reporting about children 4 and older.

Three questions on the following topics were added to the School & Family section of the Mother Supplement in 1992: rating of child's current school, rating of the child's general well-being and prospects, and degree of parent knowledge about child's friends. These questions are now completed by mothers for all their children of school age. In 1996 and thereafter the minimum child age for these schooling questions was lowered from age 10 to 5 years.

In 2006, the entire Mother Supplement was integrated into the mother's main Youth Questionnaire. This change meant that the items in the MS were administered in their entirety for each child as a series of "child-by-child loops" in the main Youth questionnaire. A second implication of this change is that the date of the MS assessments may have differed significantly from the date the interviewer-administered child assessments took place, in the Child Supplement.

Mother Supplement in Recent Survey Rounds. The child-based Mother Supplement section of the main NLSY79 questionnaire is available under Questionnaires on the child documentation main menu. Users who would like to view the mother supplement in the context of the full NLSY79 survey instrument can access the NLSY79 main Youth questionnaire through the NLSY79 documentation page.

When the Young Adult survey was first designed for the 1994 survey round, many of the CAPI sections exactly paralleled those administered to the main NLSY79 respondents. Other sections of the questionnaire were tailored for this cohort. One important part of the design process was to review the 1979 NLSY79 questionnaire to consider where Young Adults could be asked questions that were essentially the same as those that had been asked of their mothers in their first survey round. Other years of the NLSY79 were also reviewed for questions to include. The Young Adult questionnaire remained fairly stable as an instrument through the 1998 fielding, with changes in parallel sections mirroring those in the NLSY79 Youth.

The Young Adult survey instrument underwent a major redesign in 2000 and differs in a variety of important ways not only from the main Youth questionnaire, but also from the previous Young Adult instruments. The questionnaire was streamlined and adjusted for telephone administration, so that most interviews could be undertaken in less than one hour. Additionally, more pre-existing information was incorporated into information sheets to determine branching for each respondent’s path through the questionnaire. Branching also occurred throughout the questionnaire based on answers provided by the respondent. Many of the items that are comparable across the main Youth and the Young Adult were retained. Although not a complete listing of these items, Table 1 below provides users with a listing of attitudinal and behavioral sequences in the Young Adult and indicates where comparable data can be found for the mothers.

The 2002 survey instrument remained very similar to the 2000 questionnaire while incorporating questions directed to the younger Young Adults that paralleled questions they had been asked in the Child Survey when they were 10 to 14 years old. Questions concerning weapons in school were also added.

Prior to the 2004 fielding, we assessed the viability of changes made in 2000 and 2002 and questioned if there were additional needs. The redesign for 2004 focused on improving data collected on fertility and relationships, which have become increasingly important as this cohort ages, as well as enlarging the scope of health-related data.

For the 2006 fielding, we again assessed the changes we had made in the questionnaire for 2004 as well as incorporating additional questions to expand the range of data we collect. New questions were included to ascertain biological relatedness among the young adult's siblings in the Child database. We also added questions about catastrophic events, assets and debts, and the Ten-Item Personality Inventory. The 2006 questionnaire also included a series of political questions, funded through the American National Election Survey (ANES) with a grant from the National Institute of Health.

Prior to the 2008 fielding, the Young Adult survey instrument once again underwent a major re-evaluation and redesign. This redesign focused on social psychological issues, job characteristics, and military service, as well as on parenting for both residential and nonresidential children, maternity leave, and relationships.

The redesign for the YA2010 survey round included bringing forward information on household members as well as current jobs from the date of last interview, as well as an expansion of questions concerning financial difficulties, perceived fairness in relationships, and gender role item. Questions about the height and weight of biological children were added. Additionally, a health module for older Young Adults was started in 2010. For 2010 and 2012, this module was asked of all respondents age 29 or older.

The YA2012 survey round included questions about perceived discrimination. One series, asked of those 21 and older, is about major instances of discrimination. A second, answered by all respondents, asks about day-to-day discrimination. The discrimination questions were asked in 2014 to those respondents who did not participate in the 2012 survey round. In 2016, these discrimination items were again asked of all respondents.

Other additions made in the YA2012 redesign include adding head injury questions to the extended health module, adding childhood adversity items for respondents age 21 and over, and the addition of the Behavior Problems Index (BPI) to the questions asked of respondents about the children in their household. The childhood adversity items will continue to be asked of YAs as they reach 21 or if they have not yet answered them.

As part of the redesign of the YA2014 questionnaire, the answer categories for the questions concerning grade currently attending/highest grade attended and highest grade completed were changed. Everyone who was interviewed in 2014, whether or not they were either currently attending or had attended school since the date of last interview, was asked these questions with the new categories. In future rounds, any YA who has not yet answered these questions with the new categories will be asked them whether or not the YA is either currently attending or has attended school since the date of last interview. The migration questions were modified to more closely parallel those asked of the mothers in the NLSY79 survey. Additionally, a new module for self-employment based on a subset of questions from the NLSY79 was added.

In 2012 and 2014, a subset of Young Adult respondents took both the TIPI and the mini-IPIP, a 20-item short form of the 50-item International Personality Item Pool-Five-Factor Model measure. This allows researchers to assess how closely these two measures of the Big 5 Personality Factors converge.

Much of the redesign for the YA2016 focused on adjusting response categories based on "other specify" responses as well as response patterns across rounds. Another focus of the redesign was to accommodate the addition of 12 and 13 years olds into the YA fielding, as the Child Supplement is no longer being fielded. The 12 and 13 year olds answer far fewer questions, and many of the added questions are from the Child Supplement and are asked only of the 12 and 13 year olds.

Also part of the YA2016 redesign was a review and updating of the examples given in our drug use items, as well as the addition of questions about electronic cigarettes, synthetic marijuana, and narcotics/opioids.

The redesign of the YA2018 focused on streamlining and shortening the existing questionnaire to facilitate the addition of new survey questions about loneliness and social isolation, as well questions about sexual orientation and gender identity. The YA2018 also included the General Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7). Developed by Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams and Lowe, the GAD-7 asks respondents how often they have experienced certain feelings associated with anxiety in the past two weeks. The survey included questions about the health and well-being of their parents as perceived by the Young Adult respondents.

The redesign of YA2020 questionnaire included the addition of the six-item Brief Resilience Scale asked of everyone as well as a series of questions about perimenopause and menopause asked of women over age 30. The advent of the Coronavirus pandemic, however, led to the development and inclusion of a variety of questions to assess the impact of the pandemic on the lives of the YA respondents. Questions were added to assess this impact on employment, income and assets, health, family, and children’s schooling. Additionally, all respondents were re-asked the General Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), so that there is a pre-Covid and post-Covid anxiety measure for respondents interviewed in both 2018 and 2020.

Within the Topical Guide to the Data, users can find information about the contents of each section of the Young Adult survey instrument as well as changes that have occurred within each section over time. To understand the survey flow fully, users are encouraged to consult the HTML version of the CAPI questionnaire in the Questionnaires section.

Generally speaking, the CAPI data that are released are largely unedited. Exceptions to this pattern are discussed in the relevant sections. Users should note that all the names of the areas of interest for Young Adult data are preceded by "YA." Although many of the areas of interest are almost identical to the section names in the questionnaire, there are exceptions to this pattern. Table 2 provides a summary of the areas of interest in the order in which they appear in the extraction software and a description of their contents.